RN License: Lookup, Renewal, Compact States, and Requirements by State

To check a nursing license, open the state board's official lookup, search by name or license number, and read the status, expiration date, and any public discipline on the record. The table below links all 51 official lookups. Twenty-seven boards run their own search page, eighteen route the public through a statewide licensing portal, and six send verification to Nursys.

Nursys is NCSBN's national license database. Boards report license data to it, and its QuickConfirm search is free to use for anyone checking a nurse's status. When a board directs verification to Nursys, that is the official route for that state. A lookup shows only what the board has recorded, so a nurse who just renewed may not see the new date right away.

Forty of the 51 boards are members of the Nurse Licensure Compact, and ten are not: Alaska, California, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, and Oregon. Massachusetts is pending. A multistate license from a member state lets a nurse practice in every other member state without applying for extra licenses. Only the nurse's declared primary state of residence issues it.

Four states joined recently: Connecticut on October 1, 2025, Pennsylvania on July 7, 2025, Rhode Island on January 8, 2024, and Washington on January 31, 2024. Nurses with a single-state license in a non-member state apply by endorsement to the other state's board. A nurse who moves to another member state must get a new multistate license from the new home state.

Renew online through the board before the expiration date, attest to the continuing education or competence the state requires, and pay the fee. Forty-five states renew on a two-year cycle. Connecticut, Kentucky, and Washington renew every year, Iowa and New York every three years, and Arizona every four. Some boards tie the expiration date to the nurse's birth month; others use a fixed date for everyone.

Thirty hours per cycle is the most common continuing education requirement, and nine states set none: Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Iowa asks the most at 36 hours over three years. Alaska, California, Delaware, and Georgia each require 30 hours every two years. Twenty-one states name required topics, commonly human trafficking, implicit bias, or pain management. A lapsed license bars practice until the board reinstates it.

The typical initial application fee is $110, ranging from no fee in Missouri to $300 in California and Arizona, with Georgia and Hawaii at $40 and Oregon at $260. Renewal fees run around $100, from $50 in Indiana to $245 in Oregon. NCLEX-RN registration costs $200 to Pearson VUE, and fingerprinting is billed separately. Four boards, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, and New Jersey, publish no fee, so none is shown for them.

Yes, by endorsement. You apply to the new state's board, have your existing license verified, usually through Nursys, clear a criminal background check, and pay that board's fee. If both states are compact members and you change your primary state of residence, you apply for a new multistate license in the new state rather than a second single-state license.

Forty boards issue a temporary permit while the endorsement application is processed, six do not, and five state no policy. Some boards require continuing education before they issue the license. Kentucky and Texas add a state law exam, and several boards ask foreign-educated graduates to prove English proficiency.

The NCLEX-RN is the national licensing examination, and every state requires it. Register with Pearson VUE and sit for the exam once the board approves your application. Two states add a state law exam: Texas the Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Examination, and Kentucky the Kentucky Jurisprudence Exam.

Registered nurses typically earn $97,550 a year, or about $46.90 an hour, according to the latest government wage data (May 2025). Entry-level positions pay around $68,940 a year, close to $33.14 an hour. The top of the range reaches $137,470 a year, or $66.09 an hour. About 3.38 million RNs are employed nationally.

Employment is projected to grow 5.6 percent between 2025 and 2035, with about 180,800 openings each year. Pay varies widely by state, city, and setting, and hospital work pays about 3 percent above the national figure. Our salary guide breaks the numbers down by state and metro area.

The path runs through a board-approved program, the NCLEX-RN, and an application to one of 51 boards. Verify any license at the board's official lookup or through Nursys QuickConfirm. Forty boards issue multistate licenses under the compact. Most states renew every two years, commonly with 30 continuing education hours. Confirm details with your board before you act.